Retailers in a Mobile Point-of-Sale (MPOS) space generally employ Portable Payment Terminal (PPT) devices that dock with corresponding tablet devices. In operation, employees who have such devices roam through the aisles of the retailer's store. Customers wishing to purchase a product or service offered by the retailer can then simply approach an employee and pay for the desired product or service via the PPT. Such systems are becoming increasingly desirable for retailers as they reduce or eliminate the need for customers to stand in long lines at a fixed checkout lane or pay station. However, even in this mobile paradigm, accepting payment from a customer is still one of the retailer's most concerning challenges.
More specifically, the PPTs used by employees have conventionally been hardwired to a corresponding table device. Such hardwiring facilitates the ability of a merchant or retailer, for example, to manage the physical location of the devices. However, MPOS systems are increasingly becoming a wireless endeavor. That is, the PPT devices need not be hardwired to a corresponding tablet device. Instead, both devices are configured to establish and maintain a short-range wireless communications link. Within this wireless paradigm, however, retailers are required by various rules to maintain a one-to-one relationship between a given PPT device and a corresponding tablet device. Moreover, these same rules require that an employee assigned to a given PPT device/tablet device combination maintain possession and control over the devices. Although wireless links between the devices is beneficial, maintaining the appropriate one-to-one relationship between a PPT device and its corresponding tablet device in the wireless context is increasingly more difficult—especially as the devices get smaller and their functions become more specialized.